Exactly what the 2013 changes will be is anyone’s guess. We were in process of reviewing a 2012 Optima Hybrid loaned to us by Kia in place of a 2013 just as others have and our discovery of Hyundai’s on-going work prompted a call to Kia.

The media rep we spoke to at Kia said he could not disclose anything, saying he has been given no information himself on the 2013 Optima Hybrid from Korea, but we may hear something by the end of the month. Hyundai’s rep similarly said the 2013 Sonata Hybrid was pending redesign in Korea, and news may be announced in the next 30-60 days from now, though he could not be certain.

And, Kia and Hyundai did come fully clean with their existing cars, so it would appear they are working to remedy the cars which are already quite competitive, and do relatively well in sales month after month.

Hyundai says we will be impressed with the Sonata Hybrid upgrades, so we’ll take it on faith that Kia intends to be impressive with the Optima Hybrid as well.

Of course, this being well into the 2013 model year, assuming they are released as 2013s, they will not see a full selling year, but so it goes.

That improvements are needed and being taken seriously is a positive sign from the Korean automakers. They have been chipping away at Toyota’s market share, and when shown where they fall short in competitiveness, are apparently redoubling their efforts to be fully competitive.